The Guardian
by Sky Sailing
Summary: Hunger Games meets Harry Potter. Padfoot gets transported to another world when he falls through the Veil, specifically Panem. Unsure if he can get back to Harry, he vows to help the young girl from District 12 in the meantime.
1. Chapter 1

Hope everyone enjoys the story! It's a combination of two of my favorite characters.

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><p>Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.<p>

The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest.

The laughter had no quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.

It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch…

The last thing Sirius remembered hearing was Harry's frantic screams of "Sirius! Sirius!"

Darkness overtook Sirius' vision and unknowingly he tightened his grip on his wand and transformed into Padfoot, a habit he picked up from years on the run. An overwhelming pressure surrounded him and he lost consciousness.

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><p>Prim let out a whimper as lightning struck again. The storm had been ragging all day and showed no sign of letting up. Katniss wrapped her arms around Prim and whispered reassuringly to her, "Don't worry. It's only a storm, little duck. We're safe here."<p>

Prim tightened her hold on Katniss. Katniss tried to convince herself that they would be okay, but the odds weren't in their favor. It had been three months since their father died and Katniss couldn't sign up for tesserae yet. She couldn't remember the last time she ate was. She gave all the food she found to Prim and her mother, though her mother rarely moved from her bed. Katniss gave a worried look out the window. She hadn't been able to leave the house all day to find food. She saw the rain pelting against the dirty window. She needed to go out. Prim hadn't eaten in a few days and Katniss wasn't about to let her starve.

"Prim, why don't you cuddle up with mom?" Katniss peeled Prim's arms from around her neck and tried to steer her towards the bed across from them. Instantly Prim's whole tiny body tensed.

"No! Katniss you can't go! Please," Prim's voice was frantic and she clutched at Katniss' jacket. Katniss grabbed her hands and picked her up. "Prim, I have to. We need food."

A particularly loud clap of thunder sounded throughout the house. The panes of glass rattled in the window. "Katniss, no," tears streamed down Prim's face. "You'll get hurt."

"Prim, I'm going and that's final," Katniss placed her sister down next to her mother. Katniss looked at her mother, whose beautiful blue eyes stared back unblinking. Katniss didn't expect a reaction, but placed a shaking hand onto her mother's matted blonde locks anyway, "Watch after Prim, Mom."

Her mother gave no response but Prim curled underneath her frail arms and nuzzled her head into her mother's shoulders. Katniss draped the worn blue blanket over them. "Stay safe," she whispered as she kissed the top of Prim's head.

Katniss pulled on her worn leather boots that were quickly becoming too small for her feet. She laced them as well as she could wishing that she could afford new ones. She pulled her jacket tightly around her body and tried to ignore the sharp pains in her stomach. She knew she should eat, but she couldn't help but give anything she found to Prim. Without looking back, Katniss exited the house and tried to ignore Prim's whimpers.

It took all of Katniss' strength to make it out of the Seam. She figured her best bet at finding food would be from the trashcans of the merchants. Her whole body was weak from malnourishment and the rain pelting down on her only made it harder to drag her feet through the mud. It felt like hours by the time she reached the center of town. She crouched her way through the brick ally way and peaked her head to see the back of the buildings. She was by the bakery, she could tell because the smell of bread was penetrating the rain. Katniss' stomach rumbled loudly as she took deep breaths of the lovely scent of food. Keeping as low as she could she sneaked back to the metal trash bins that sat next to the pig pens behind the shop.

She glanced inside the shop window and saw a young blonde boy who she knew from school, Peeta Mellark. He was placing bread inside the large fireplace to cook. Katniss vaguely saw the boy's mother walking around the room. She stared longingly at the baking bread wondering how wonderful it must be to have bread whenever you liked. She looked down to the trash can and lifted the lid. Softly placing it on the ground she began to rummage through the contents. There wasn't must in the container, mostly paper and cardboard and what she assumed was old icing bags. She lifted the bag and stared at the pink color of the food. Before it could be washed away in the rain she darted her tongue out and gave a lick. Her eyes widened at the taste. It was delicious.

"GET AWAY! Scram! I'm tired of you Seam brats picking through my trash cans!" It was the baker's wife. Katniss scrambled to back up as the women kicked the trash can. Katniss stumbled to her feet as she ran away from the yelling women. Mrs. Mellark went back inside, still mumbling underneath her breath. Katniss threw herself underneath a tree not too far from the bakery and tightened herself into a ball. She didn't want to, but she let tears stream down her face. How was she supposed to go home with nothing to give Prim or her mother? How was she supposed to even get home? Her whole body protested against the thought of even moving right now.

"You stupid boy! You burned it! Who is going to want to buy burned bread?" it was Mrs. Mellark again. She was yelling at Peeta. Katniss squinted against the rain and saw the women bring a rolling pin down against the side of Peeta's face. He gave a soft cry and staggered out of the house as his mother yelled for him to feed the burned bread to the pigs. He stood outside of the house letting the rain pour down on him. Katniss saw the welt that was already forming underneath his eye. He glanced inside and when he saw his mother walk out of the room he broke off a small section of the bread and threw it to the pigs.

With a final glance inside, he turned his head towards Katniss. With a soft smile he threw the two loaves of bread across the path. They fell a few feet short of where Katniss sat underneath the tree. He looked at her once more then quickly made his way back inside. Katniss' eyebrow scrunched together. _Were these for her_? They must be. He looked directly at her when he threw them. With a new hope burning she lunged forward for the bread and grabbed a loaf in each hand as she sprinted home. This bread would hopefully last her family the next few days.

She made it home in record time and excitedly showed Prim the fresh bread. It was a bit damp but was better than anything they had eaten in weeks. With food in her stomach for the first time in days Katniss slept easy that night despite the continuous rain.

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><p>Not too far from the Everdeen house, just over the electric fence that guarded the District, a bright flash engulfed the woods and as the light faded one could make out the shape of a large black dog lying in the bush of the forest. The dog gave a halfhearted attempt to lift his head but couldn't muster up the energy to move anymore. He flopped his head back down and succumbed to sleep again.<p>

It was over two days later before he was spotted.

Katniss stopped in her tracks when she saw the large dog. Even though he was unconscious his form was still impressive and Katniss debated between running from him and shooting at him. She drew her bow out. She had only just uncovered it today. It had sat in the woods for months after her father's death. Peeta Mellark's generous action had sparked hope in Katniss and when she saw the dandelion the next day she knew what she was going to have to do. If she wanted to keep her family alive then she was going to have to hunt outside the woods for food. Still, she hadn't shot anything without her father and her hands shook as she pointed at the black mutt.

With a whimper Sirius regained consciousness and took a long sniff. He smelled the outdoor, something he hadn't experienced since his lock up at Grimmauld Place. He slowly opened his eyes to see that he was somewhere in a forest. He lay there remembering Harry's screams before he lost consciousness. _How did he get here? Where was he? Was Harry okay?_ The last question haunted him. He had let Harry down. He had gotten arrogant and Bellatrix got the best of him. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself had something happened to his godson because he got knocked threw the veil. Sirius still felt drained and decided not to risking transforming back to his human form in case he wasn't strong enough to make it. With the resolve to live as Padfoot for a little while longer he lifted his head and saw an arrow pointed at him.

His eyes widened, or widened as much as they could for a dog. _What the hell was going on? Who was this girl?_ He didn't move as he looked at the girl. She was skinny, far skinnier than she should be. He instantly felt sympathy for her. Hunger was something he knew well. Her scrawny frame reminded him far too much of himself and Harry. She looked young, a few years younger than Harry; Barely old enough to start Hogwarts. Sirius whimpered at her, and lowered his head.

Her grey eyes, so similar to his, glanced around franticly. She looked torn between what to do. Sirius felt a connection to this girl. He wanted to help her. He also didn't want to get shot. Harry would never forgive him if he survived the Veil just to get killed by a young girl.

Katniss didn't know what to do. The dog stared up at her with large grey eyes. He wasn't attacking her. She knew she should shoot him. _His meat could feed us for a week. _He began crawling towards her. She tightened her grip on the bow and prepared herself to fire when he nuzzled his nose against her foot and let out a whimper. She took one hand off her bow and ran it through his soft black fur. He started panting and leaned into her palm and lolled his tongue out at her.

She didn't fight the smile on her face when he grinned up at her. She couldn't bring herself to shoot the dog. He was the first animal she had seen since deciding to come to the forest and he seemed harmless enough. She decided to let him go. With a final pet she slung her bow over her should and began to trek away from the dog.

When she heard a branch snap she looked back and saw the dog following at her heels. She let out a sigh, "No. Don't follow me. Isn't it enough I decided not to shoot you? Shoo! Go on before I change my mind."

_Go where? _Sirius thought to himself. He didn't even know where he was. She would be his best bet at getting back to civilization and he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to find his godson. He butted her knee with his head and stared up at her. _Fat chance. I'm coming with you, girlie. _

_Stupid mutt, _Katniss thought. "Fine, come on then."

Padfoot followed the young girl around for the rest of the day as she tried to hunt through the forest. Sirius had to hand it to the girl. For her age she was a good shot, however her nerves seemed to get the best of her and she was always slightly off. After her fifth failed attempt to take down an animal Katniss gave a frustrated sigh and slumped down against a tree. She listened to the crunch of leaves as the dog trotted back towards her with her arrow hanging out of his mouth. He had been doing it all day. After every missed shot he would run off only to return moments later with her arrow. It saved her a lot of work and she felt better about sparing the dog's life. At the same time she couldn't help but question where the large creature had come from. Someone must have owned him. No wild dog was that tame or that smart.

He dropped the arrow at her feet and curled up next to her. The sun was beginning to set and it was far too cold for this girl, whose name he still didn't know, to be out here anymore. He stared at her imploringly, hoping she would take the hint to start heading home. "Stop staring at me," She snapped. "I can't go home empty handed. Hunting was supposed to be what would save me. I can't go back to Prim and Mom without anything to eat."

_Was this her only source of food? _Sirius didn't know who Prim was but he whimpered at the young girl who seemed so determined to protect her family. _She's just like Harry. _Sirius perked his ears up and strained to listen. In the distance a twig snapped and he took off. He hadn't needed to hunt down his own food since the Triwizard Tournament, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to. Padfoot's massive size made him quite good at it. He spotted the wild bird that was wondering the forest floor. It flapped its winds furiously, attempting to escape him, but he descended upon it before it could take flight. His teeth locked around the animal and he quickly snapped the neck. He didn't like killing, but it had been necessary to survive after Azkaban and he wasn't going to let this girl starve when he could help her. He ran quickly back to her and dropped the bird at her feet. She stared at him in shock, her grey eyes wide. He nudged it towards her. _Take the bird, _he mentally willed her. With tears in her eyes she threw herself at him and hugged him whispering, "Thank you so much."

It felt good for Sirius to help her. Looking after her distracted him from thoughts of Harry and Remus. He hoped his friend was okay. He still didn't know where he was and depending on how far it was from England it might take him a while to get home. Remus would be stuck on his own for the full moon this month. He licked the side of her face, hoping she would head home so he could better understand his surroundings.

Sure enough, she stood up with the bird in her hand and looked at him, "C'mon, boy. Let's get home. Prim is gonna love having a dog." Padfoot wagged his tail and gave a happy bark. He followed the girl back through the forest and watched her store the bow and arrows underneath a blanket of leaves and moss. Not too far from the hiding place Padfoot began to hear sounds of civilization. He wagged his tail even faster. Hopefully he wasn't too far from England; perhaps he was even in England! That would make it much easier to get back to Grimmauld Place, a thought he never imagined being happy about. Quickly, a large fence came into view. He watched in confusion as the young girl wormed her way underneath it. _Was she not supposed to be in the forest? _He followed her and crawled on his belly towards her. When he got out from underneath the metal fence he looked around the area. He could see buildings not too far from here, but he would hardly call this place a city.

"Welcome to District 12, dog," The girl gestured at him. Her braid whipped around her face as she held her hands out and sarcastically said, "We're the mining district, don't you know? Not that that means anything, we're still the poorest district in all of Panem."

_District 12? Mining? What the hell is Panem? _Sirius didn't recognize anything the young girl was saying. Where the bloody hell was he? With a sickening feeling he trotted after her. He kept glancing in all directions hoping to see anything familiar. They passed a beautiful meadow, but it was arguably the only beautiful thing in the place. The buildings got closer and closer together the longer they kept walking. The houses were poorly kept and Sirius was having flashback to Grimmauld Place. Katniss hurried to an off white house and Padfoot followed after her. The inside wasn't better than the outside. There were only a few rooms in the house, a bathroom, kitchen/livingroom, and a bedroom.

Padfoot followed the girl into the house, trying his best not to leave paw prints on the scratched wooden floor. A young girl sat at the kitchen table. She was even younger than the girl he had found in the forest. Her hair was light blonde and pulled into two braids on either side of her head. When the door swung shut she peaked her head up, "Katniss!"

_Katniss? Is that her name? _Padfoot glanced at the dark haired girl and saw her smile, "Hey there, little duck. I brought you something." Katniss looked down at Sirius. The blonde stared at him in either shock or awe. He wasn't sure which yet. He lolled his tongue out at her, and wagged his tail. "Don't worry Prim, he's safe. He even brought us dinner." Katniss held up the dead bird to prove her point.

"Oh!" Prim said as she stared at the bird. She shifted her gaze to Padfoot and hesitantly walks over to him. Padfoot snickered to himself. The young girl didn't even reach his shoulders when standing. She's small enough to ride him. He nudged her hand and in seconds Prim is cooing at him and telling him how pretty he is.

Katniss sits down to prepare the bird for dinner. As she plucks the feather out she gives Primrose a grin, "He's going to need a name, you know."

Prim looks up from scratching his ears, "I can name him?"

"If you want," Katniss tells her.

Prim seems to be in deep thought, "Fluffy! Since he is so furry."

Padfoot shakes his head at the name, not sure if it is better or worse than Snuffles. "I'm not calling him Fluffy, Prim. What about something a little manlier?"

Prim huffs as her name is passed over, "Fine, what about…Bear? He's about as big as one."

Katniss agrees to the name and the rest of the night is spent getting the bird cooked. Katniss gives a leg to Sirius when his stomach grumbles, "Here ya go, boy. You earned it." He feels guilty about taking food from them, but can't resist the smell of the meat. As Padfoot, or "bear" as he was being called, curled up next to the bed for the night he promises himself that tomorrow morning he'll begin his search to figure out where he was and try to make his way back to Harry.

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><p>Let me know what you thought!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: Katniss' First Reaping

Thanks for reading!

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><p>It had been almost a year since that day Padfoot curled up on the floor of the Everdeen's. News had turned bleak for Sirius Black. The information he learned since waking up after falling through the Veil left little hope for the convict of finding his godson. He had woken up in Panem, in what he figured was a different universe from his own. Sirius had done his best not to mourn Harry. He had faith in Harry; he would survive and destroy Voldemort. That did little to ease the pain he felt. He could only hope Remus would look after the last Potter.<p>

Sirius transformed back into his human form very rarely since he woke up. He hadn't wanted to risk exposing himself, because as far as he could tell magic did not exist in this universe. He had spent weeks attempting to figure out life in Panem. Katniss would talk to Sirius as they hunted. She didn't know it, but she had given the animagus valuable information. Life in District 12 was hard, particularly for the people living in the Seam. Sirius rarely left that section of District 12. He had followed the dark haired hunter into the merchant side of town quite a few times, and while no one told Katniss she couldn't keep the large dog, he had definitely received attention.

Sirius understood Katniss' hatred for the Capitol. She used him as a way to vent, often spending hours talking to dog. His heart broke for the young girl as she explained how her dad had died in the mines and what that meant for her family. His sadness turned to anger as she described the war torn history of Panem and how the districts now lived under rule of the Capitol. On her 12th birthday Padfoot followed her as she went to the Justice Building to sign up for something she called a tessera. His confusion turned to shock as she described what it was. A supply of oil and grain and in return your name was entered again for The Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games were disgusting. How anyone could think watching children kill each other was entertaining was beyond the dark haired animagus. Choosing "tributes" to partake in a bloodbath to repay a past rebellion was probably the dumbest thing Sirius had ever heard of. It was an evil worthy of Voldemort.

Sirius hated himself for it, but he grew to love the dark haired Everdeen. Days spent romping around the lush forest had brought the two closer. Padfoot hadn't wanted to get attached to her. He had lost so many people in life and he couldn't bear to lose this strong girl if Dumbledore somehow managed to find a way to bring him home. But she was endearing, and she reminded him so much of him with her rebellious attitude that he wanted to protect her. He began to think of her as his goddaughter. He put so much effect into making sure she got back on her feet. When she met Gale Hawthorne Sirius considered leaving. She had another hunting partner, she wouldn't need him anymore. He couldn't bring himself to do it, though. Too many times she had hugged him and cried. She needed someone to lean on. She tried so hard to be strong for Prim, her mother, and Gale, but with Sirius she would show her vulnerability.

Katniss didn't like to admit it, but there were very few days in her life that stuck out. The day her father died, the night Peeta Mellark saved her, and the day Bear came into her life. It was stupid. People shouldn't need animals, but he felt human to her. He understood her. Not just understood her feelings, he really understood her. She could tell him to do anything and he understood it. It was scary, and on more than one occasion Gale had pointed out how suspicious it was. She agreed with him, but Bear protected her and she wasn't willing to sacrifice that. He was the only one Katniss would cry in front of. The people in the Seam adored him, especially Prim. He was exceptionally good at hunting and would bring home game for the Everdeens almost daily. Katniss would have survived without the large dog, but he made her life easier and for that she loved him, and that wasn't something she said easily.

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><p>The first time she told Bear she loved him was the day of her first reaping. Her name was in 4 times, a measly amount compared to some in District 12, but enough to make Katniss nervous. Her mother, who was having a good day, handed her a white dress to wear to the reaping. Katniss hated it; it looked far too innocent for such a dark day. Sirius couldn't help but agree. With shaking hands, Mrs. Everdeen twisted elegant braids into the young girl's hair. Primrose sat on the faded sofa in the living room with tears streaming down her face. Padfoot had his head in her lap and licked at her hands trying to cheer her up. "She's going to be fine, right Bear?" the blonde whispered. Sirius gave out a happy bark and Prim giggled softly.<p>

Soon, it was time for the Reaping and Sirius would be damned if he was going to let Katniss go without him. He followed right by her side and she tangled her shaking hands into his fur. They reached the Justice Building and Padfoot whimpered and licked the young girl's hand, bidding her farewell. She crouched down and hugged him.

Her whole body shook against him and he softly rested his head on her shoulders. He was making pathetic noises, and his eyes were watering. She pulled back and scratched underneath his chin, "Thank you, Bear. Thank you so much for everything. Make sure Prim stays strong, okay? And, make sure Gale is okay, and…and, Peeta Mellark, too." Sirius licked her face. _You're coming back, Katniss. _ "I love you, you stupid mutt." Padfoot barked back, _You too, little one. _

The night before the reaping had been the first time Sirius had turned back from his dog form. He had snuck into the Justice Building and tried to remove Katniss' name from the glass bowls, but the names were recounted the morning of the Reaping and Sirius did not want to risk Katniss getting in trouble because of his actions. So, he left her name in there.

Padfoot sat next to Mrs. Everdeen and Prim during the ceremony. His eyes scanned the crowd. More than one pair of eyes was watching Katniss. Gale Hawthorne had his eyes trained on the girl. They had only been hunting together for a few months now, but Sirius knew the boy liked her. Katniss seemed completely oblivious to it, which Sirius was thankful for. The other person watching Katniss was Peeta Mellark. The boy was head over heels for the dark haired Everdeen. Sirius liked the blonde haired merchant's son. Katniss talked repeatedly about the night Peeta gave her bread. Peeta watched Katniss walk back from school almost every day and even today he looked worriedly towards the girl. There had been a few times Sirius followed Katniss to the bakery when she made a trade to the baker, and Peeta always brightened when he saw her.

As the announcements began Mrs. Everdeen pulled the dog closer to her and held on tight. The people around gave dirty looks. The people outside the Seam thought it strange that a large black dog accompanied one or all of the Everdeen's around at all times. It was strange, the only animal people kept as pets were cats, and Sirius was, well, the size of a bear. Still, as long as he didn't bite anyone he wouldn't be taken away. Sirius could not find it in him to blame Mrs. Everdeen for her depression. She left her daughters to fend for themselves, but he had done the same thing to Harry when he was in Azkaban. With that thought he allowed the blonde woman to lean on him during the Reaping.

Sirius felt disgusted by the happiness he felt when Katniss' name wasn't called. There was still a young girl being sentenced to death and all he could do was celebrate that it wasn't Katniss. It was revolting. Primrose hugged her mother and cried in happiness at the fact that her sister would be returning home with them. Sirius kept an ear open and was happy to note that both Gale and Peeta were safe as well.

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><p>As Padfoot drifted asleep that night he couldn't help but dread having to go through this again next year. He also hated himself for not thinking about his godson. Harry would almost be seventeen now, an adult in the eyes of the wizarding world. How was the golden boy doing? Sirius just knew he was alive; he was too strong to be killed. Was Voldemort still alive? Lily and James would be so mad at Sirius for failing their son. <em>I'm sorry, Prongs. Please forgive me. <em>

Sirius stared at the sleeping faces of Katniss and Primrose. If he couldn't be there for his own godson, then he would be there for these two. He would guard them from the evils in this world.

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><p>Hope you enjoyed this. I wanted to show a little development of the relationship between Sirius and Katniss.<p> 


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